Panguil River Eco Park

The eco park is located in the province of Pangil, Laguna. It is a couple of hours away from Manila. The place is perfect for campers and family outings. If you plan to go on a camping, swimming, water tubing and trekking, I highly recommend this place to you.

There are two ways in which you can reach this place: through buses from EDSA and through jeepneys/fx van in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.

How to get there:

Vans going to Tanay - you can find the terminal going to Tanay on the left side of Starmall, Shaw Boulevard. It will cost you PHP60 per person. It will take about 1hr and 30 mins to reach Tanay market.

Jeep from Tanay Market - when you reach Tanay Market, ride a jeepney that goes to Siniloan Market. Jeepney drivers usually wait for the passengers before they leave Tanay Market. The fare is about PHP30. (Sorry, I lost my notes!)

From the Siniloan Market- you can either ride a jeep (but you have to wait for more passengers) or take a tricycle going to Pangil Eco Park. As for us, we took a tricycle and paid approx. PHP80. (Trust me, it’s less than P100!) The tricycle driver will drop you off at the entrance of Panguil River Eco Park.

admin's office

From the park, you have to pay the entrance fee at the admin’s office (just beside the entrance). As for us, we paid PHP45 each, and another PHP300 to rent a tent (2D/1N).  Don’t worry because there’s a guide that will assist you once you get inside! If you plan to have just a day trip, you can rent an open cottage located on the riverside. 

this place has a lot to offer.

cottages for day use

There’s a big open function hall and the lights were open at night. There’s no electricity problem in the place. However, they don’t allow people to bathe (or even stay near) in the river after 6PM. There are stalls near the entrance that sells fruits and ihaw-ihaw foods. In the morning, my loves and I had to go out of the park just to eat our breakfast at a nearby carinderia. (YES, we didn’t learn from our Majayjay experience!)

 river

 pool

Because my loves insisted that we go on trekking, I had no choice but to say yes and ask the guide if we can join other groups in trekking. We were given a life vest and and paid PHP90 each. Trekking to the Ambon-Ambon falls was tiresome. We have to ride a balsa and walk through huge rocks in order to reach the falls. We also did some sliding in the Bollero Dam (I have never been this close to a Dam before!) and it was very fun!

 Bollero Dam

trekking to the falls

long long way to the falls

I have a little complain though. The public restroom for campers needs to be developed. I was really dismayed because the restroom was just too dirty. The pool was very crowded with kids.

Going home, we rode a tricycle going to Siniloan market, and then from there, we rode the jeepney going to Sta. Cruz. We stopped by at Greenwich to eat our lunch. From Sta. Cruz, we rode a bus going to EDSA.

Overall, it was still a great experience for me.

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Majayjay Experience

Majayjay is a municipality located in the province of Laguna, Philippines. My boyfriend and I went to Majayjay on my 21st birthday (April). It was our first out-of-town trip together.

How to get there:

Bus from Cubao to Sta. Cruz - Less than P200 each- 3 hours
If you're travelling on a weekend, it would be better to leave before 1PM. We left Cubao at around 3PM and we reached Sta. Cruz at 6.30PM.

From Sta. Cruz to Majayjay - P250 - approx. 30 minutes
Since the jeepneys from Sta. Cruz to Majayjay operates until 6 only, we decided to take a tricycle from Sta. Cruz to Majayjay town proper. (Costly, eh?)

From Majayjay town proper to Taytay Falls - P250 - less than 30 minutes
There are tricycles available when you reach Majayjay town. (See, it's really costly. So better leave Manila early!)

Taytay Falls - we have to pay PHP90 in the Barangay Outpost (the tricycle dropped us off at the barangay outpost, walking distance to Taytay Falls) for the tent and the guide to Taytay Falls. There's also a PHP20 environmental fee to pay. According to my bff, there's a small store near the barangay outpost that offers oil lamp rental for PHP20.

Majayjay falls.

another view.

Since we arrived before 10PM and we have no idea where to borrow a lamp or flashlight, my boyfriend bargained and paid the guide PHP100 for him to lend us his flashlight for the whole night.

trekking to the falls

We trekked for about 10-15 minutes going to Taytay Falls. The tour guides were the ones who set up our tents. Mind you, it was really cold there even at night, the water from the falls was "ice" cold.

 the tent.

ice cold water

The place was crowded, since we went there during summer time. The place itself was “rocky” so it was very hard to find a place where we can pitch our tent. The water is very clean but mind you, I noticed that the campers (definitely not us!) don’t really clean their trashes when they leave the place. At night, there’s no electricity so better bring a flashlight or rent a lamp. AND, bring insect repellent! The good thing is, you can set up a bonfire there! Nice!

very clear water.

water from the falls.

Since we didn’t bring any rice or food, we trekked our way outside the camp site just to eat our breakfast.  Rice meals cost around PHP60 to PHP120.

hanging bridge (closed)

for breakfast.

It was easy to go back to Sta. Cruz that morning since the jeepneys were already available. It took us 2 jeepney rides going to Sta. Cruz. From Sta. Cruz, we rode a bus going to Manila. It was a very memorable experience with my loved one.

A budget of 1, 500 each is more than enough for this trip. It was indeed a very "memorable" experience.

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